Loma Elaine McMurrey Rugeley of Austin, TX passed peacefully at her home on December 23, 2023 in Austin, TX.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Robert A. Rugeley, Sr., daughters Deborra R. Harpool and her husband Robert, Rebecca L. Rugeley, sons Robert A. Rugeley, Jr. and his wife Cheryl and John K. Rugeley and his wife Pam.  Additionally, there are 10 grandchildren: Mariah, Molly, Phillip, Hayden, Jessica, Sam, Rachel, Melissa, Jake, and Jess.  She was also blessed with 4 great grandchildren.  She had three sisters Laura Maxwell, Sammye Kelch and Jency McCoy.

In her early years Mrs. Rugeley grew up in the community of Lindenau, TX where she and her sisters would ride a horse named "Ole Mare" to school.  This was one of the many animals she loved and nurtured and said was where her desire for nursing began.  Later she and her sisters moved to Westhoff where she went to junior high school and then graduated from Cuero High School. By then they had hung up their spurs and rode a bus to school.  In those summers she worked at DeTar Hospital in the obstetrics ward which solidified her desire for nursing.  Showing signs of being a self-starter after high she enrolled at the University of Houston.  Once again, she rode the bus only this time by herself to downtown Houston and then took a city bus to San Felipe Street along the Buffalo Bayou.  This is where she attended Jefferson Davis Hospital School of Nursing as a recruit in the Army Air Corp.  As fortune would have it, World War II ended as she graduated and her obligation was deferred. Distinguishing herself academically and professionally she became Director of Nursing Services at Jeff Davis Hospital until she and Dr. Rugeley were married in Rochester, Minnesota.  She and her husband resided in Wichita Falls, Texas from 1958 until they relocated to Georgetown, Texas in 2004.  In 2013 they moved to Westminster in Austin.  While in Wichita Falls she was an honored (distinguished) member of the Junior League of Wichita Falls and a founder of the Red Door for Senior Citizen Services.  She became a member of Fain Presbyterian Church serving as a deacon and elder, then transferring her membership to First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown and eventually Westminster Presbyterian Church of Austin.  Favorite activities were serving at Hospice Wichita Falls and participating with the Meals on Wheels services .

Memorials honoring Mrs. Rugeley may be made to Hospice Wichita Falls or Hospice Austin.  Family members are appreciative of the kind expressions and memories of Mrs. Rugeley.